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Welcome

Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation.

P.S. The greatest value of this blog lies in the comment section where bloggers in all phases of the blogging journey open up and share their thoughts. Click on the post title to experience the full effect of each lesson.

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a total stat-whore. I have good reason though. Part of the reason I started my blog was to help land a new online marketing job. All those numbers were acting as proof that I knew what I was doing. Plus, I’m a naturally competitive person. So all those stats are good motivation to keep working hard. I don’t want to spend my time writing to just a few people. No I want to make some money online and rediscover my passion for writing along the way.

I use my blog as part of my business, so it is vital to me to measure the statistics and the hits that I’m getting from each post. Each time I post a new blog article, I also submit it to stumbleupon and digg so that I can try and get more traffic from those websites. I look at each site so that I know which sites generate more hits for my blog and my website.

It depends on the blog! I have two blogs. I use the professional one on my company’s website to promote my business, so I meticulously track every hit that shows up on that blog. I also have a personal blog as well. On my personal blog, I couldn’t care less if I get hits or not, because I write for myself and not for anyone else.

Hi Barb,
Well you know me, I blog to share information which is all going into a book about healthy lifestyles and nutrition. Sure I’d love to have more traffic and comments but I don’t worry over any of it. Just tryin’ to be Zen about it, like whoever comes to my blog is meant to.
Hugs
SuZen

Great to hear back from you – I’ve missed you too and have kept up receiving and reading your posts throughout the years. You contribute so much to the blogging community and I appreciate your work.

Guess what – something new. I’ve taken the plunge and updated my blogger site to a new WordPress site trying to get with it with the new technology out there. Hope you check out my new post (“New Beginnings – Changes ~~ to live or die”) and let me know what you think. Nothing like diving right in there huh?

I originally started my blog to earn money, what a joke. I then continued and still tried making money (I carry ads even today but it doesn’t pay me anything) and finally discovered how much I enjoyed doing a blog. So, I basically write for my own enjoyment but at the same time I do like it when my readership increases, I like to think someone out there is reading what I blether about.

I started a blog because:
1. I love writing.
2. My Guides directed me to write.
3. Other peoples’ Guides said I was to write.
4. A blogger who I respect a great deal, Naomi at Naomi’s Notes, gave me the push that sent me to set-up.

Once Soul Dipper was underway, I only had one gauge that told me how I was doing – statistics. Then I began “assessing” others. I felt competitive with a couple of bloggers who wrote daily about subjects very unlike mine. I didn’t like that sense of competition – it was churning up negative attitudes about myself as well as others.

In a meditation, I asked for help. I was lovingly reminded that my blog’s mission statement still held true and it was mine – not one to be paralleled or measured against other blogs.

As I wrote in a comment here many posts ago, when I feel myself getting off track, my mission statement keeps me true.

I am proud of Soul Dipper, who it has attracted and to whom I’ve been led. For example, to you, Barb. You model the kind of dignity that I want in my posts.

I would like to gain subscribers, but when I started blogging my primary goal was to resume a consistent writing routine. Thankfully, each month since I began I’ve gained visitors and subscribers, but more importantly I’ve been committed to my writing schedule!

Very good points, Barbara. Lots of people get caught up in the numbers when they really should be blogging for the fun and love of it. In the long run, those who are blogging because they enjoy it will turn out lots of quality content.

thanks for this, i´m new to blogging and feel i have learnt a lot from reading this,have made a mental note not to get caught up in the numbers,i dont want blogging to feel like a competition, i had enough of that in my last job in the office

I love my work. I don’t work for any reason other then that I love to write. Sure I earn money in that process. But I don’t think I would give up writing even if I wasn’t getting paid for it. I just love writing and sharing my thoughts. I really think to be good and successful at what you do, one must really love what they do and be passionate about it.

These days blogging is turned into a business where every blogger wants to see his blog post in the Top 1-2-3 (SERPs). The charm of blogging casually to share genuine knowledge or to help peers and acquaintances has lost in the way.

Revenue is a big part of any blog and it rightly should be. Servers, a bloggers effort need to be repayed. But the ultimate satisfaction is when I publish a post and a new comment shows up immediately. A day later the number of comments increases.

Most certainly traffic would be a beneficial thing but with added traffic comes the potential for more money through ads. Although the feeling of repeat readers seems like such an exciting idea as well. I’ve never had followers in my life haha.

Well I originally started blogging to save myself some time on the phone (As a computer repair tech I get a lot of calls from people wanting advice for free which sometimes I am happy to give but not when it takes 3 hours of my day on the phone)

Once I started I realised I could make a bit of money from it and now I do it for a mix of. Making my life easier by directing people somewhere, Making a little bit of extra cash and because I have actually come to enjoy it 😉

When one is just starting out blogging (like me), they say it important not to focus on making money at first. Rather, focus on creating valuable and quality content so you can build that traffic.
Personally, I love writing and blogging allows me to express myself and enjoy my passion..:)

I started blogging as a way to pass my time. I really got addicted to it. I found it to be a place I could be myself and shared my experiences with others. I used to write on different topics that were close to my heart. Then I got really good at it and started earning by blogging. It was crazy, to earn money doing something I loved. Now I have the best job in the world.

Blogging has become a crucial part of a business strategy if online marketing is a goal. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t using my web presence to drum up business, but I’d also be selling myself short if I didn’t say that I’m also fighting to get the best content and a large readership. I’m a writer at heart, and I love spending quality time with words. It’s a win win situation for me, and that’s always a good thing.

Thanks, I hear a lot about just focussing on good quality content, and that is what I have tried to do but I just don’t seem to get regular readers. My blog does direct traffic to my shop though which is the main idea of it.

Good quality content is important, however we also have to market ourselves. I don’t know what all you’re doing, but building a larger presence on social networking sites might help to bring traffic to your blog and store.

Yes – When having a passion and drive for blogging will make it come a lot easier and naturally to you as a blogger. And usually no one likes doing what they are forced to do – so try convincing yourself that it’s not a must have but a want have. If you are motivated enough and work hard you’ll be sure to make a successful blog. The other part that you need to realize is that you are gaining a lot of experience and exposure for you and or your business while blogging and that can be a big motivation to make blogging a fun part of your daily/weekly activities.

I like your idea of framing our thoughts to think about our blogs as more than just a platform to share our writings. When we look at the bigger picture, we begin to realize that which we share on our blogs can become extremely powerful either for an existing business or for one we want to build.

I love blogging. It is a very important part of my life. I get to share my views and thoughts with my readers. I have met so many interesting people and have learnt so much from them. It has seriously been a humbling experience for me. Of course I make a lot of money but that is secondary for me. I would keep writing even if I don’t get anything in return.

I started blogging because I want to express my feeling and show to the world who I am. Eventually, I learned some things how to earn from it. But I still stay on my interest. It’s a win-win situation in my case.

I agree I work on blogs so that I can earn money. It is a very good way to earn money. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t like what I do. Money thing is just a part of the bigger picture. There is no shame in earning some money from your hobby. But if you do blogging just for the money there is a chance that it will be boring and bland.

When you do something that you love it shows in your work. The passion you have for a particular thing is visible and what you do from you heart is always beautiful. When you write a blog from your heart it connects with the readers. It is something which is not possible if you had done it for the love of money.

It needn’t to be separated, I think. I mean, you can blog for money and traffic while you do it for pleasure as well. The most important thing is to get passionate about the topic you write about. The ‘content-is-king’ theory is still the most significant and dominating for me.

I think blogging should be a marriage of business and pleasure. Make money, be famous and have fun at the same time. After all we work to live and not the other way around plus if we enjoy our work no time is wasted.

I am a very practical person. I write blogs to make money. I want to be the best in what I do. I think that more than writing with your heart it is important you right with your brains. You need to have proper facts about a thing to be able to write about it. You don’t want to pass false information to your readers.

You know I love your blogs and that you take effort to know your readers and appreciate what they think. Kudos for that. Now that said and done, I feel blogging should be done by people who are really interested in it and not just for the money. When you do a thing with only money on your mind it turns into something without a heart.

I think I can do blogging for both money as well as the pleasure of writing. I love writing but that alone will not help me earn money. I wanted to do something which I like and earn money in that process. I love everything that is there in writing and maintaining a blog. I love writing but I also like other things like getting to meet new people or by learning about new features that are available.

When I first started my blog numbers were everything to me and I used to check them several times a day. It started driving me insane watching small increases and forced myself to stop and just enjoy writing articles. I find im now more productive and spend my time writing quality content rather than trying to increase this and that

Hello Barbara,
It’s great to be back on your site.
I have been blogging for 9 years and I started journalling online when I was 15 so technically I have been blogging a lot longer than 9 years. Always having a different site each time, my experience has varied.
I started out journalling my personal experiences online, like a diary and that was for me. I made this private, so that people didn’t visit.
During the 9 years later in blogging I had a site where I shared writing/poetry/photographs/creativity and that was open to the public and people could leave comments which I found really encouraging.
I never did pay too much to the stats, not as I often do now. I did realize that over time the blog that I shared the most, and less payed attention to the stats, was where it grew the most and where I had the most audience. I feel these experiences are part of our lives and how we feel in the moment to do what we desire.
I feel as long as you enjoy sharing, than nothing else matters as what counts is you expressing whatever it is that you feel to in the moment.
I do notice the pressure in regards to statistics more these days, and sometimes one does not know how to keep up with it, because although it sounds interesting to know, it really isn’t essential. It’s almost like a diversion, and a restriction and sometimes can stop you from doing what you really feel.
Key is to be yourself and do what you feel regardless of what anyone else thinks. As long as you are okay with it, that’s all that counts.
Thanks for the great post.
Best
Ana

I have to admit the first thing I check each morning is my Alexa ranking, uniques, and spam. Honestly it never fluctuates that much and I mainly write for an audience that’s not present. It’s a really fun hobby, though, and I hope it will one day generate something of an income.

For now I’m content to post what I like and at least I have freedom in that.

its said you should always do something that you like an you are interested in. in the same manner I love blogging, writing posts and sharing my experiences. I write blogs for the sake of my personal hobby and not for making money ot attracting maximum traffic. earning ferom writing is a blog is always complementary in my case.

I guess it’s going to depend entirely on the person but I think it’s a mixture of everything-pleasure, income, traffic…because all of these are interconnected. If a blogger doesn’t have passion or pleasure on what he’s writing, I doubt if anyone will ever want to read whatever he’s published. If someone does, it increases traffic and when traffic is increased, it’s going to bring about income.

I personally like your posts very much and sincierly blogging for fun or just for the sake of your love for writing makes a lot of sense. Making money lies secondry and not a priority. Writing good posts would on its own get lot of attraction and get you money.

If people started working for passion and love for free, then how are they supposed to earn a living. Blogging is a talent and one needs really great writing skills to do so. If I get paid for such brainstorming, it will infact be my priority.

I have a fairly unsuccessful blog, looking at blogs like this helps me to determine a potentially better route to be taking with mine. One of my issues is when I have something to say and sit down to blog about it the words don’t flow and about halfway through I loose confidence and say to myself “who cares”. Ill keep working at it I guess.

Blogging for the pleasure of it. Because if you do take pleasure of whatever you do, eventually you’ll be able to make money out of it. When you blog and you force yourself to write about something that you know too little or nothing about, your writings will only be misinforming the public in the long run and won’t contribute to the wellness of everyone–and then people will define your integrity.
No matter how simple your ideas are, be honest with it and you’re going to go a long way.

I blog to share my expertise in what my main site is selling, the blog shows any potential customers i know what i’m talking about. Plus I enjoy writing about what I do and giving useful information to others

I run a blog for my business, and since the goal was to drive more traffic at first, it took me ages to write an article because I had to do keyword research first, pay attention to alt tags, links, etc. It was not fun at all. But if you try to mix it up a little bit, like writing about interesting things that happen in your life and are somehow related to the subject of your website, it’ll be easier and you’ll see the words flowing. It’s all about trying to find a balance between work and pleasure.

Hi Barbara,
Thank you before for your post, I’m a blogging like that, but I do not really think to get more visitors or making money to my blog, because blogging just my pleasure to give my personal experience to many people.

I must admit that I do watch on the numbers but they aren´t to important for me. The thing is that I dont want to earn money with my blog. I just want to share some knowhow or photos and it is good to know that people loaded up my blog. But it is not a real sience for me. I watch my stats one time a week or so to find out which blogposts were visited most.